Read Romans 1:3-7
“And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (v. 4).
Probably the greatest demonstration of the power of Jesus was in His resurrection. He conquered death, hell, and the grave! Jesus gave the unequivocal declaration to His disciples, after His resurrection: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18). One of the great proofs of the deity of Jesus is that He possesses all the attributes of the Godhead. According to Scripture He is the Creator of the universe. “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). The attribute of omnipotence or being all powerful is emphasized in today’s lesson.
When we see what is happening in our nation and world, we may wonder why an omnipotent God does not intervene. We should remember that Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). God sees all things from beginning to end, and we can rest assured that His will will be accomplished, on time and in proper order. (Burl McClanahan)

All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all. — Edward Perronet

We have an omnipotent Christ who can do for us what is best.

This week's featured devotional is from the Wednesday, March 11, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

Photo credit: "Jesus' Tomb" by upyernoz used under CC BY 2.0 / Resized, cropped.

Read Psalm 19:1-14
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (v. 7).
The United States government has written laws which are thousands of pages long. Even with such length, these laws do not cover a broad range of possibilities. We can have laws thousands of pages long yet still need hundreds of laws to cover every contingency.
This problem is not new. Israelite religious leaders had a tendency duriing Jesus’ time to create intricate laws about even the most minute details of everyday life. These laws were terribly burdensome.
Somehow humanity thinks more laws will make us better able to stay in line. God knows better. His law is perfect in its simplicity. This world’s wisdom does not compare to God’s. (Michelle Avery)

The law of God is good and wise,
And sets His will before our eyes,
Shows us the way of righteousness,
And dooms to death when we transgress.
Its light of holiness imparts
The knowledge of our sinful hearts,
That we may see our lost estate
And seek deliverance ere too late. — Matthias Loy

God’s law shows His wisdom and His love.

This devotional is the Monday, February 23, 2015 entry from Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "Light reading" by Loozrboy used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / Resized, text added.

Read Proverbs 5:15-23
“Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running wa- ters out of thine own well” (v. 15).
We were created with very real needs for relationship, love, acceptance, a sense of self-worth, recognition, and purpose. Our Heavenly Father has lovingly made provisions for each of these needs. God never fails His child, but we fail each other. We experience rejection instead of recognition; abuse destroys our sense of self-worth. It is hard to love or receive love. We have a choice. Will an unmet need control life, or will we allow God to control when, where, and how our needs will be met? This choice has life-changing importance. Turning to the world to meet legitimate needs often starts a downward spiral. Decisions are made; attitudes develop. Motivation that originated as a desire for relief, escape, recognition, comfort, or acceptance turns destructive. The attempt to meet a need becomes bondage — a bondage unwanted and hard to break free from. No longer the master, the individual unwittingly becomes the victim of the choices made.
We have the opportunity and responsibility to choose whether to be the master of our desires and needs or to allow them to have mastery over us. Lord, help us to be careful in meeting the needs of others and allow you to meet our needs! (LAD)

Lord, I choose to trust you with this day.

This week's featured devotional is from the Monday, February 16, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "Israel - Nimrod - fortress cistern" by Matt Mickelson used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / Resized, text added.

Read Psalm 31:17-24
“Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous” (v. 18).
Several men were seated in a circle talking, and the subject turned to fishing. As it often happens in such circles, one story is told, and another tops it with his story of success. Glenn, who could have been described as having some cognitive limitations, was among the men. He had a story of his own. He said he had caught a very big fish. He was asked, “How big?”
“Well,” he said, “it was so big it took a half hour for the hole in the water to close up!”
Now that was a story!
As I remember it, about that time the group erupted with laughter and dispersed. They had been bested by someone they thought was incapable of such declarations, but remember that lying, shading the truth, and exaggerations come under the condemnation of God.
God is truth. God expects truth from the lips of His people. Truth is the very fabric of the gospel, and we discredit it if we fail to tell the truth. God tells us about how really sinful and helpless we are apart from God, and by God’s grace we will dwell in a realm where truth and truth alone is the order of the day. (Lonnie Witt)

They who practice lying are not a reflection of the Author of truth.

This week's featured devotional is from the Wednesday, February 11, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

Photo credit: "38 Pounder from Eldean" by Tim Creque used under CC BY 2.0 / Resized, cropped.

Read Matthew 21:12-16
“And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves” (v. 12).
Since my husband grew up in a builder’s home, we enjoy looking through model homes, finished or not. If it is furnished and decorated, the house tells a lot about the people living there. I especially remember a furnished one we toured that had a million dollar price tag. There were three levels of living space, two kitchens, and a guest house, all beautifully decorated. But what impressed us most was the fact that there were Christian mottos on the walls and an open Bible prominently placed on the office desk. We concluded that the family living there loved Jesus.
What would people conclude about us if they could see the furnishings of our “heart houses”? Would the decor indicate wrong attitudes and desire for things that would displease our Lord? Or would the beauty of a heart surrendered to God be evident?
What if Jesus came physically into our churches, what would He find? Is our church a place where truth is taught and careful living encouraged? Would He find evidences of love, peace, and joy? Or would He need to drive out strife, self-will, and pride? May we open the doors of our hearts and let Jesus drive out what is displeasing to Him. (Leta Witt)

Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus;
Come in today, come in to stay; come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
— Harry D. Clarke.

Let us strive to decorate our lives and churches with a love that is evident.

This week's featured devotional is from the Thursday, February 5, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.
Photo Credit: Cayman Brac Mission Home by Zenia Woods

Read John 4:13-19
“For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly” (v. 18).
It is a common thing in the news, especially in election years. This or that politician stands with head bowed, admits to an extramarital affair, and withdraws from the race. You might think that after having seen so many die political deaths over sexual misconduct that all those interested in public office would be especially careful to avoid it. The list, however, continues to grow. Why did these men even attempt a candidacy when they were behaving indiscreetly? They, like so many of us, forget that no matter how secret our sins seem to be, they will be found out.
God is never fooled by our attempts to hide sin. We may try to overlook it, explain it away, talk around it, or even lie about it, but God sees, He knows, and He prods our consciences until we either admit our sin or turn away from Him entirely.
Are you trying to hide sins in your life? Are there things about which you do not like to pray? Take time today to ask God to search you and reveal to you any hidden sins. (Karen Speak)

Search me, O God, and know my heart today.
Try me, O Savior; know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from ev’ry sin, and set me free. — J. Edwin Orr

“Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23).

This week's featured devotional is from the Wednesday, January 28, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

Photo credit: "Just looking into the darkness" by Fabio used under CC BY 2.0 / Canvas expanded to 960 pixels wide.

Read 1 John 3:10-18
“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” (v. 15).
I do not know that I have ever heard a person actually confess they hated someone. So I began to explore a definition for hatred, and what it feels like to hate. What I found is that hate is as difficult to define as love. One person described hatred as “a feeling of very powerful continuous anger toward the person or thing that makes you feel like destroying or abusing it.” Someone else said that hatred is “the absence of warmth or tolerance in your heart for a person or thing.”
Perhaps it should not come as a surprise, but of the thirty-nine times the word “hate” occurs in the New Testament, over half of them come from the pen of John, known as the apostle of love. The suggestion is that we either love, hate, or are indifferent to those around us. When a person enters our life to the point that we can no longer be indifferent to them, either positive feelings — that is, feelings of love — or negative feelings — feelings of hatred, are going to arise.
One of the characteristics of hatred seems to be a desire for something bad to happen to the person in question. That suggests that a pay-back attitude actually involves hatred.
So think about those people in your life for whom you have negative feelings. Have those feelings become hatred? Do you wish something would happen to them that would set them straight? Christians want the best for each person they meet. Anything short of that borders on hatred. (Gordon Snider)

Choose to love the Lord

This week's featured devotional is from the Sunday, January 25, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

Photo credit: "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ... hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love" by BK used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / Resized.

Read Ephesians 6:1-4
“That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth” (v. 3).
How to Enjoy a Family Fight is the title of a book I have in my library. The author, Will Cunningham, creatively addresses various issues that every family faces. Volumes have been written by authors from nearly every field of study, giving advice about how to build a successful home. Many of these may be good resources for helping establish a home, but we must never forget the primary source of guidelines for the home is God’s Word.
God created men and women with distinct differences and complementary responsibilities in marriage and the family. The New Testament reestablishes God’s purpose for men and women in marriage and the family. Husbands are the head of the family and are commanded to love their wives; wives are to submit to their husbands. Children are to obey their parents, and parents are to discipline and instruct the children in love.
If we respect and follow these principles that God has established, we can expect our homes to be successful and enjoy long life. (Harold Carpenter)

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
— John H. Sammis

God promises long life to those who respect His guidelines for the home.

This week's featured devotional is from the Saturday, January 17, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

Photo credit: "The Old Home" by Kool Cats Photography over 3 Million Views used under CC BY 2.0 / Resized, cropped.

Read Mark 10:46-52
”And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me” (v. 48).
“They thought I was a corpse!” the rescued sailor said.
Trapped in water up to his chest in a cabin of the overturned boat, he little expected the pocket of air sustaining his life to last much longer. Hour after hour he stood atop a pile of mattresses, his muscles screaming for relief as the chilly water sapped his body’s warmth and strength. Awaiting death, he quoted Scripture and prayed for rescue.
Suddenly, he heard hammering overhead. With all his remaining strength, he banged back. When a diver’s headlamp pierced the darkness of his watery prison, he stretched out his hand and squeezed the diver’s fingers in a desperate, silent plea for deliverance.
The crewman could have succumbed to despair. Likewise, blind Bartimaeus could have permitted the crowd’s disapproval to deprive him of a miracle. But his need was great, and the Healer was passing by. He cried out and received his sight. Today, we can cry out to the Great Deliverer whatever our need. Jesus will hear the faintest heart cry and respond in love. (Joyce Cooper)

Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by.
You’ll find He’s not too busy to hear your heart’s cry.
He’s passing by this moment your need to supply.
Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by. — Bill Harmon

Have a need? Just reach out to Jesus by faith.

This is the Friday, December 19, 2014 devotional reading of Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "STATION SAN FRANCISCO (FOR RELEASE)" by Tidewater Muse used under CC BY 2.0 / Resized, cropped.

Read Psalm 86:10-17
"For thou art great, and does wondrous things: thou art God alone" (v. 10).
Several years ago, our oldest son applied for a loan to purchase a home. After a few days, he received a letter saying that he was denied the loan. He contacted the loan company to find out why he had been denied. He was told that his credit was impeccable but that he was overextending himself. As he looked deeper into his credit report, he found that the loan I had secured to purchase a home was on his credit record. The combined payments from his load and mine were more than his income could repay.
The reason for the discrepancy was that our names are the same except for different middle initials. Because of the failure of someone to examine our names carefully, we were not recognized as different individuals.
God is God alone. Some have attempted to impersonate Him, but anyone who looks diligently will recognize that He is God alone. There are other gods, resulting in different religions, but there is only one true God. Jeremiah wrote, "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (29:13). A diligent search for Him will result in finding Him because He is God alone. (Larry DeOrnellis)

We always find Him when we diligently search for Him.

This is the Wednesday, December 10, 2014 devotional reading of Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "KURDISTAN Nature as I see it" by jan Sefti used under CC BY-SA 2.0 / Cropped